Light emitting device contact layers having substantially equal spreading resistance and method of manufacture

A light emitting device and method of fabricating a light emitting device. The device contains a light emitting junction, such as a pn junction. Contacts (11, 15) to the junction are designed to have substantially the same spreading resistance to produce a substantially uniform voltage across the light emitting junction. This will produce substantially light emission by the junction. The contacts can include contact layers (11, 15) whose spreading resistances are substantially matched by controlling the doping, thickness and/or composition of the layers.